Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Durbin proposes American Innovation Act to fund scientific research at 1871 Press Conference

Sen.
Dick Durbin announces American Innovation Act

Sen. Dick
Durbin speaks at 1871 about the American Innovation Act, which seeks to
increase funding for basic research 5 percent, or $100 billion, over the next
ten years. (Amina Elahi, Blue Sky / Mar. 16, 2015)

What the American Innovation Act
seeks to accomplish, according to Sen. Dick Durbin

Sen.
Dick Durbin announced plans Monday for legislation that
he said would keep the U.S. competitive in research and development for
decades.

Durbin
said his American Innovation Act seeks to increase funding for basic scientific
research 5 percent, or $100 billion, over the next 10 years. He made his
announcement at the 1871 tech hub and said he plans to introduce the bill next
week.

“This
American Innovation Act will make funding for critical science research less
political and more predictable,” Durbin said. At Monday’s event, he accepted a
Champion of Science award from the Science Coalition, a Washington-based
nonprofit that promotes federal funding for basic science research.

Durbin
said the bill would lift automatic spending caps and provide funding to benefit
the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of
Science and the Department of Defense Science and Technology programs, among
others. Based on current trends, he said, China’s investment in research and
development could surpass U.S. investments by 2020.

Last
March, Durbin introduced the American Cures Act, which would support funding of
biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention and others. He proposed 5 percent growth in
funding, or $150 billion, for this initiative.

Durbin
said the combined $250 billion that he has proposed represents a small
percentage of federal spending. Biomedical research is only “half the story,”
he said.

“That's
why we are moving forward with this American Innovation Act, to complement the
biomedical research with investments in other agencies that can make a dramatic
difference in the world that we live in,” Durbin said.

The
senator recognized representatives from a number of the state's universities,
including Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, the University of
Illinois.

Kenneth
Brezinsky, associate dean for research and graduate studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago,
emphasized the need for long-term funding for continuity and to keep students
in the field.

“Beginning
the funding cycle now so that it might create enthusiasm for 10-year, 15-, 20-year
continuous support for science is exactly what we have to do,” he said,
“because it's momentum and continuity that leads to successful scientific
output.”

Caralynn Nowinski ⇒,
executive director and COO of UI Labs, said Durbin's proposed legislation sets
a good example for how the government can encourage the private sector to
support innovation.

“Without
this kind of commitment to basic research endeavors, the U.S. is threatening
its long-term competitiveness,” Nowinski said. “I particularly am excited for
what this means in providing a foundation for what can be done in applied
research and beyond.”